OST Bureau
Paradip, Sep 6:

The Paradip Port Trust (PPT) which handled 29.04 million tonnes of cargo till August 2013 in the current fiscal posting an increase of 37.79 per cent compared to 21.08 MT during the corresponding period of the previous year, has also exceeded the target by 9.56 per cent over fixed for the period.

The port handled 5.91 MT of cargo during the month of August compared to 4.88 MT in the corresponding month of previous year which is 21.07 per cent higher and also 13.29 per cent higher over the target fixed for the month. Out of the total cargo handling, 2.42 MT of cargo was exported and 3.49 MT was imported.

During the current fiscal up to August, the thermal coal traffic has registered a growth of 59.19 per cent. Besides, the POL traffic has increased by 17.84 per cent, iron ore traffic by 98.46 per cent, fertiliser raw materials by 4.13 per cent, coking coal 20.01 per cent and other cargo traffic by 47.85 per cent compared to the same period of previous year.

With this, PPT has again retained the second highest position in terms of cargo handled and percentage of growth in traffic among all the major ports till the end of August.

The average turnaround time for the month improved by 23 per cent and up to the month improved by 14 per cent over the corresponding period of the previous year and 7 per cent over the target fixed for the year.

The average berth-day output of the port for the month improved by 13 per cent and up to the month improved by 3 per cent over the corresponding period of the previous year and 2 per cent over the target fixed for the year.

Besides, the rail-borne traffic has also improved by 33 per cent during the month and the same is improved by 46 per cent up to the month over the corresponding period of the previous year, a PPT release said.